Did you know that in just a few minute's time, you could be munching on Disney's Funnel Cakes? It's a copycat recipe, that takes almost no ingredients, and can be ready faster than you can sing most any Disney song! I love this because I know my son can eat it safely, even if he can't get one at Disney! 

Let's get started! This will make 6 batches

You'll need oil, and either a large pot, or a fryer. Get your oil heating. If you don't have a fryer with a level to fill, just fill a few inches deep in a pot.

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​Gather your ingredients

1 1/2 TBSP baking
powder
2 cups of all purpose flour
2 cups of milk
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 TBSP sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Toppings: (Optional)
Powered sugar
chocolate sauce
strawberry sauce
sprinkles
whipped cream
​ice cream

Mix all of your ingredients together. Stir until there are no lumps. Set our toppings off to the side. 

​Once your oil is hot, work is small batches. Either with a funnel, or a measuring cup, drizzle the batter into the hot oil. Be careful! 

When the batter starts to turn golden, flip the funnel cake over, with a heat safe sppon or spatula or tongs. It doesn't take long. About a minute on the flipped side is all you need. Pull out, and set on a plate with a paper towel to drain off excess oil. 
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Dress it up as much or as little as you want...you can't go wrong! Try it, and let us know what toppings you used! 

So my picture looks a little wonky, and my ride crispy treats were rushed because someone kept trying to devour them, but they were incredibly tasty, shaped like Mickey, and reminiscent (and better tasting) of the ones we got our last trip at Pop Century. 

This next trip, we can't get those for our youngest, there could be cross contamination with his allergy, so once again, we are showing him we can make whatever he wants, at home! 

If you've never made these, they are super easy. The hardest part is putting the treats into the pan, but I have a trick for that. These are super easy to customize! If we didn't have an allergy, we'd be using candy melts to really decorate these! For a quick and easy job though, it worked well! 

The steps are easy! Gather supplies! You'll need cutters, butter, marshmallows, rice cereal, and wax paper, along with a pan. If you want to add chocolate, or sprinkles, you'll need that too! 
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Melt 3 TBS of butter in a pot, then add 10 oz package of marshmallows. Once melted, add in 6 cups of crisped rice cereal. Stir til combined, then press into a wax paper lined 9x13 pan. That's it! I usually spray cooking spray on my wax paper, and since I make double or triple batches, use that paper to press with my hands into the corners, and really compact it all so it won't fall apart. You could also just put it on a lined cookie sheet, fold the paper over and press that way.

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Once you cut your shapes, decorate! I even put a few onto Popsicle sticks! If you don't want to cut shapes, just decorate your big rectangle, and cut into smaller pieces. Or really large pieces!! These are so yummy, in 3 days, we'd eaten 4 batches, I'm a little embarrassed to say! 
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​Can't wait to see what you make!! 

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It's no secret that Disney's stopping the plastic straws is a trending conversation, one that leads to some heated points of view, but no matter which way you are thinking, there is somthing to be aware of in the new paper straws department. 

Several Disney allergy groups, have comments saying in Disney LAND their servers told them the paper straws are corn based. In Walt Disney WORLD there are reports of soy being used in the ink, one person even saying that some of the straws had gluten. 

If you, or someone you know has any of these allergies, stop and check on the straws, before you use them. Disney changes suppliers often, so what they have today, might be totally different next week.  I can't confirm this myself just yet, but on our upcoming trip I plan to see for myself. (With yes, my plastic straws in my backpack.) I don't feel confident in vacation sterilizing my allergy kiddo's straws, so we are planning to bring a few plastic, until we can confirm that the paper are safe, for our allergies. 

One of our favorite things about Disney? The snacks! You probably have your own favorites there too, and you've seen a few of our copycat ones, but doesn't it stink when on your next visit, you don't see the same things you had last time and fell in love with? While some things are never changing, like the Dole Whips, or Mickey Pretzels, others are in a constant rotation, things like cupcakes, cones and prepackaged specialty baked goods. 

If there's an allergy in your house, I'm sure you especially know how upsetting that can be. Your choices for treats are already limited, and when your choices shrink, it can make your trip to the Magic Kingdom not as magical. 

Recently we experienced that when Disney switched up some of their offerings, in particular,  the prepackaged cookie and brownie area. Where previously they had sold OMG Brand products, now, it's two different brands, and the brownie, which is definitely a good substitution dessert in the sea of cross contact forbidden cupcakes, was made in a facility with nuts. If you've got a nut allergy, do you REALLY want to take that chance and ruin your vacation? We don't. 

So of course, we did what anyone would do. Food allergy people understand. We PANICKED. I won't lie, my heart was heavy and there were tears and I felt absolutely sick to my stomach.  The very few treats that our 6 year old would actually want had now been cut in half, and when you are 6, and everyone else has something yummy, that's a Big Deal. 

Thankfully, I discovered that you can still buy the OMG products, directly through their website! What's even more exciting, is buying them ahead of time is actually going to SAVE us money, over The Mouse's Markup.  I was so excited about this, I decided to share with you guys, so that you can have a safe, or heck, just plain AMAZING Disney dessert, AND save money! They didn't ask me to write this, and might think I'm slightly crazy for how obsessed we are over these, but I want to make sure everyone knows! 

Don't don't let the gluten free part scare you if you don't need to be gluten free. I admit, I wondered if they would have the "healthy" taste of Enjoy Life products, but O.M.G. I bit into one, and the heavens opened. A choir of angels sung, and for just a brief moment, through the heavy snow falling, the sun shone and everything was perfect. Then my kids gave the puppy dog eyes and sighing, I handed over the rest. 

They say these are gluten free....I cannot tell at all. They are so incredibly fudge-y inside, flaky on the tops, moist, rich...I could go on and on. The perfect brownie has been  made, and it is one most everyone can enjoy! 

The brownies are shipped freshly made, sealed in pretty thick plastic, and are meant to be frozen, and thawed. Once thawed, they say to use within two weeks. I hope they last that long here. I have them in the freezer right now, so I can practice thawing before our summer trip. I'll be buying more, so that when the oldest buys Disney treats to bring home, the youngest can eat his heart out on these brownies. These are even going to replace the Wolfgang Puck brownies I bring back every time and free. I can even keep a stash for when SURPRISE! There is a birthday party I didn't hear about until the last minute, and didn't have time for make him his own cupcakes! 

OMG has a lot of other products too, cookies, rolls, pizza dough, muffins...a big list! If the other things taste as good as these, you won't be disappointed. Another great thing? Their customer service! Before I even ordered, I sent several emails with questions, and was surprised at how fast I got answers! When does that EVER happen? I think it was even the owner herself who answered me each time! Huge! 

Shipping was free, I don't know if it's that way on all orders, but it was only about 3 days from when I ordered, to when I got my brownies! So fast!  They weren't broken or crumbly at all, like I worried about. 

I'm excited to try these jazzed up too! Ice cream on top, or whipped cream and hot fudge, shaped like Mickey.... these stand alone, but a dash of Disney sprinkles, when I can manage to find them, will definitely be awesome! 

Here's a peek what they look like kind, of hard to see through the wrapper. It's not safe for me to open any more, and I forgot to take pictures while it was out! (The three seconds it lasted!) And, here is the ingredients label, for you to check out, yourself. If you go into the Food Service tab, you can see all of their ingredients, for all their products. Isn't that so nice? I sure appreciate it. 

I will say, you will see these on Amazon. Don't buy them there. WAAAAY overpriced. Buy directly. And tell everyone you know, because these things are so amazing, it's a disservice NOT to share the word, and help get them into stores everywhere! Happy eating! And if you stop by my house? Umm. Sorry. All out. Can't share. Nope. Move along. Nothing to see here... 

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It's time for another copycat recipe!! I admit, I was VERY intimidated thinking about making this, but little man wanted it so badly, I gave it a shot, so that I could guarantee it would be completely safe for his allergies. 

Much to my surprise, it was easier than I thought it would be, AND it was really tasty! 

Like so many other recipes I do, you can change this up a little bit to suit YOU and your needs. While the original version at Pop Century Resort has Red Velvet Cake on the bottom, don't want it? Do chocolate! Or white, and make those colors really pop! Have a holiday approaching? Don't do the bright neon colors, do pastel, or red, white and blue, or even a team's colors! Make a large one, or make a bunch of minis (I did both!) This is very versatile! The most labor intensive part is the amount of dishes it creates. 

I'm going to show you step by step, then put the recipe at the end. This recipe is actually enough to make 24 mini cheesecakes, and one 9 inch springform pan cheesecake, not quite full. 

When you think about these bring around $6 each at Disney...it's much better to do it DIY! the total cost of ingredients, for me, was around $7, because I had the icing colors on hand, and the vanilla and sugar, I only calculated the portion that I used in my cost. I'm using the same icing colors that I used in the Copycat Banana Split Cupcakes, because I love (and need) them from a Nut Free Facility. 

If you are making a large cake, go ahead and mix the batter, putting about half of it in your springform, and put it in the oven. If you are making only minis, line the pan, and put in the bottom of each something like a vanilla wafer, or a piece of graham cracker.. It makes a nice crust, and makes it easier to handle the cheesecake. 
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Mix your cream cheese, sugar, sour cream, eggs, vanilla and lemon until smooth. 

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Divide the mixture into small bowls, one bowl for each color you want your cheesecake to be, and then color it until you are happy with the color. 
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Cool your cake, and once cool, or if just doing minis, start to drop spoon fulls of colored mix. 

Keep dropping spoonfuls until your minis are about 2/3 full, and about an inch from the top of the larger pan, because the cheesecake mixture will expand as it cooks. 

Once it is all mixed, take a toothpick and drag it through the batter, swirling and mixing until you think it looks nice. 
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Isn't that beautiful??? Like a work of art!

​Pop it in the oven and keep a CLOSE eye on it. 

Of course, the small ones cook faster, but I am not kidding, I thought to myself, naaaah, the big one needs just another minute or two, and in that time, I went from bright colors, to a sepia tone. Still tasty, and attractive, but not the bright colors I had planned for. 
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The minis turned out great, just as vibrant as when they went in, however....it would appear I didn't take a final picture of those!! Whoops! I guess we ate them too fast! 

Here's the recipe! Please note, I used full fat versions of ingredients, sometimes lighter doesn't bake as well. You can try whatever you like though! 

1 Box mix of Red Velvet (Or your favorite flavor) 
the ingredients needed to make the box mix

3 bricks of REGULAR cream cheese room temp
1 1/3 cups white sugar
5 eggs
16 oz tub of REGULAR sour cream
1/4 all purpose flour
2 tsp Vanilla extract
2 tsp lemon juice
food colors (I used gel) in red, purple, green, blue, yellow, orange OR your desired colors


Make cake batter, and put about a third in the springform pan. Bake until done, and cool. If just making minis, skip this step! 

Heat oven to 325

Beat cream cheese and sugar until creamy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating between each.  Add flour, vanilla, lemon juice, and sour cream and mix until incorporated, but don't overmix! 

Divide batter between bowls matching the number of dyes you want to use, then add dye until you have the color you want.   Drop spoonfuls of colored batter over the cake, or the cupcake pan in the spring form pan, leaving about an inch from the top of the pan.  

Use a toothpick to swirl and blend colors. 

Place in the middle of the top rack of the oven and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes for the large cake, ABOUT 20 minutes for the mini cheesecakes.  This is where I went wrong with my larger one. Trust the hour 15 min unless you've made cheesecakes before and know your oven cooks quick or slow. 

Don't leave these alone, and keep peeking on them. Sometimes the cheesecake starts to rise too high and will make a mess in your oven. If you see it rising too high, don't turn off the heat, but open the oven door a crack for a few minutes, and then close it, the cheesecake will drop in height. 

 The large cheesecake will not be set completely at the end of the hour 15 minutes.  After the baking time is up, crack the oven door and leave in for an additional hour.  After an hour, remove and cool, then refrigerate, overnight. 

The minis, can be eaten after just a few hours of cooling! 

Final step, slice, serve and enjoy! 

Want to see how our minis, compare with the real thing? Here's a picture on Trip Advisor that shows what the Pop Century version looks like! See how tiny it is though??? 

I really hope you try and make this! It's less intimidating than I thought, and I admit, I feel really proud I was able to make it! 

Any ideas what we should make next??